Lovely Claws
by the beast beneath the flower
Summary: Why are you the wolf and I red riding hood? Is fate really that cruel? Are we cursed? None of that matters thou, as long as we are together. Standing side by side... I'm alright with that...


Nana: I've always disliked the story of little red riding hood. How they villainizes the wolf. Maybe I'm just biased because wolves are my favorite animal. I don't normally write fanfiction but I'll give it a go. This is my first fully song inspired fic, and I think i'll do other after if it goes well. Feel free to give suggestions if you want a specific song made into a story :)

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters; they belong to their respective owners

LenxRin

The Wolf Fell in Love with Red Riding Hood (part 1)

~LEN~

Why? Why is fate so cruel? If I am a monster, why then, must I feel an emotion such as love…

I closed my eyes and rested heavily against the tree. The same old tree that I'd slept against for so many solitary years. It was my silent companion, the bystander that watched my life as it progressed. The sun enveloped my body; I could see its red glow through my closed lids. The breeze was light and warm; the sweet smell of wheat permeated the air. It was a nice day for an afternoon nap.

A thud caught my attention; it was a soft but solid sound. My eyes opened and focused on a red shape, "_an apple?"_ I blinked my eyes free of blurriness; and reached out to pick it up. Yes, it was most definitely an apple. Bright red with little flecks of gold, but where had it come from, I was under no such apple tree. And then I could hear it, the soft fluttering of her heart. My eyes lifted from the apple in my hand to the girl before me.

I'd seen her so many times, but never this close. Her bright blue eyes shimmered with fear. But everything else looked the same. Golden hair, and fair skin, even the little red hood and cloak she wore.

My mouth opened, but no words came forth. After all what could a wolf have to say to a girl?

After a moment I reached out, apple in hand "this is yours isn't it?" I asked though I knew the answer. Her lips parted and she stared down at me with weary eyes. "A-Ah yes… thank you." Her face reddened and she tentatively moved to take the apple from my hand. She paused and met my eyes again.

She studied my face and then broke out into a breath taking smile. "Keep it." She moved back and I just sat in shock. Then without another word she turned and was gone. I looked again at the apple in my hand. What would a wolf need with an apple; I held it up to my face and breathed in its scent.

It had an indescribable smell, sharply sweet and fresh. The lingering smell of the reed basket it fell from and the honey and bread that shared the vessel. There was another scent that caught my attention. Cotton and wild flowers, it was hers…

I studied it a second longer and took an experimental bite. Though I'm a wolf an apple will not hurt me. My sharp fangs pierced its flesh easily. It tasted as it smelled, sweet and fresh and yet slightly tart.

And for some reason I wanted to cry

I watched the figure in red figure from a respectable distance. She always traveled to her grandmother's house this time of day. And though it's none of my business I follow her and keep watch over her.

We are two beings destined to forever meet and clash. Just because I am a wolf and she a human girl. That day she gave me the apple, was just an oddity, something that only happens once in a life time, never to repeat. At least that's what I keep telling myself, but my mind keeps burying it down.

When two such as us meet there is only one outcome. An end… right?

And though I know this so profoundly well I cannot pull my thoughts away from her. I used to watch her before too, but now something feels different, tangible. When she first saw me there was fear, but then it change.

I'm not like the others. I'm saddened by the deaths I cause. I stay near the edge of the forests where the humans live. My thoughts are not fleeting; they linger about and endlessly float around me. I can't expel them simply by logical reasoning. Is this love, can I feel something like that? I'm not like the other wolves… so then what am I?

Humans do what humans do, and wolves do what wolves do. There is only conflict when we cross paths. But why must it be that way, we didn't fight, it didn't happen like the stories say. We just met and that was simply all we did. So why was it wrong, why is it bad. Is it bad?

I want to talk to her again, I want to hear her voice and smell her scent. Does this really make me a monster?

~RIN~

He followed me again today. The wolf. He always hides just beyond the trees, watching. I should feel scared… but instead I feel warm and a smile crosses my lips. I'd always seen him before, resting against the giant old oak tree. It was a tree I passed on my way to grandmothers.

His face always so sad. I don't know what came over me that day, but I found myself before him. I should have run, I should have stayed away, but something drew me there. A shiver of fear wormed its way through me only when he noticed me.

But… those gentle blue eyes… they made my heart soar.

The soft action of his clawed hand extending that apple back to me. Something has changed. It can't be our fate to be enemies. Fate can't be that cruel? If so I'll just make my own.

Everything is the same yet different.

I won't go by what stories say, they won't make my decisions. Destiny is only relevant to your beliefs.

I left my grandmother's late; the sky was a multitude of colors, signaling the suns decent from the sky. I saw him… just barely, a glimpse of blond and brown. I smiled warmly, though he probably could not see it, it was for him none the less.

I walked slowly, wanting to cherish this time. Am I silly? I couldn't see him anymore, but I could feel him nearby. I made it to the giant oak, and just stood under it for a moment. Smiling so much my cheeks were hurting, yes, silly is a good description. I put an apple at the base of the tree.

A normal wolf wouldn't care about such a thing. But this wasn't a normal wolf; this is what I'm choosing to believe.

"My name is Rin" I said aloud before I turned and ran off in the direction of my home. I needed to make it back before dark or my mother would scold me.

~LEN~

I peeked out from behind the tree and watched as she "_Rin_" ran off into the distance. I rounded the tree and was surprised to notice the apple lying in the grass. Had she left it for me? Or is that wishful thinking.

She probably had dropped it when she had run off. Yes… that's probably what really happened.

After all if she left it on purpose, that would make it a gift. And why would she want to give me a gift? You give a gift to someone special, not a monster. Knowing that, why am I praying that it is one? Why do I want to be special to a human?

Why is she special to me? I don't watch the other humans like I watch her. My mother told me wolves don't love like humans. When we fall in love, our love is forever.

Summer passed.

Each day warm and bearing gifts at the base of my tree. Yes, gifts. Apples and even bread and honey on occasion. I left wild flowers and other such things in return. But this game we'd somehow come to play, I knew was dangerous.

I watched Rin every day. But we hadn't spoken since that one time. I only heard her voice as she sang songs along her daily journey. Today was no different, except summer had turned to fall. The leaves colored the fields with warm hues.

It's an unbelievably beautiful but fleeting season. Sooner rather than later, everything would wither. And the brilliancy of those colors would be replaced with a vast white and dead landscape

Rin came to the fork in the road and stopped suddenly. She always took the left path to her grandmother's. It was shorter and the trees had been cleared away. The right path however, lead through the forest and was significantly longer.

Horror erupted in my chest; she turned and went down the unfamiliar path. I took off instantly to catch up with her. The path was not only longer and in the forest, it was dangerous. Dangerous for the hunters, let alone a frail young girl.

My heart hammered in my chest as I ran. I ran so fast that the momentum I had built prevented me from stopping in time. I ended up crashing right into Rin. We tumble to the ground a mess of tangled limbs. My eyes shot open, I hadn't even realized I closed them. I stared in silent panic at the girl that was beneath me.

I opened my mouth to speak, but was completely lost for words. Those intense blue orbs ensnared me in there depths. We both just stared at each other; all to be heard was her fluttering heart and my panting breaths. Rin leaned forward on her elbows and pressed her lips to mine.

End of chapter one: TBC

Thoughts/comments? Please R&R


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